This invention relates generally to medical imaging systems, and more particularly, to a display viewed by patients during scanning.
At least some known scan procedures require patients to perform certain actions during scanning. For example, in Computed Tomography (CT) the patients may be required to regulate their breathing patterns during scanning procedures. Further, the patients may be required to hold their breath during a quick scan. Therefore, to facilitate scanning it may be required to prompt a patient to perform a bodily action at a predetermined time. A technician can prompt the patient. However, there may be a problem if the technician and the patient are not well versed in a common language.
Further, cooperation from patients may be required to reduce movement artifacts. These can be reduced if the patient remains still during scanning. The technician verbally prompting a patient to remain still may, however, present language problems as mentioned earlier.
Another problem may be that the patients do not understand, the need to remain still during the scanning procedure. Furthermore, the imaging procedure and machinery may agitate the pateint. A number of patients may also experience anxiety and uneasiness during scanning. This may further reduce the patients' willingness to cooperate.
If the patients are pacified, it may lead to an improved experience for the patient as well as make them more cooperative, thereby, improving the outcome of the scanning procedure. Such a device to pacify the patients, and to prompt them in a way that the patients comprehend and follow, would work better if it were non-invasive. This is because physical restraints may exacerbate the anxiety of the patients and escalate the related problems. A physical restraint may also be a hindrance in the proper scanning or acquiring other data such as measuring respiration for the purposes of respiratory gating during CT scans.